Illusion of Normalcy
by saxophoboe
Summary: My first fanfic. Events following the revolution.(V lives although how is not explained here). He and Evey go about their roles in the new world. Had this in my head for a while..just their life following the revolution. I don't own any of these characters. I really appreciate any and all reviews!
1. Chapter 1

The man in black paced furiously across the room. He was wasting precious seconds that could cost his beloved her life. His mind and heart were torn at this very moment in such a way he had never encountered before.

" _She's dying, dammit! Make a decision, man!"_

His inner battle was briefly forgotten as he peered into the darkened room where she lay bleeding upon a table. He could hear her now ragged and shallow breaths- it pained him mercilessly to think that these may yet be her last. At that thought, all other plans fled his mind as he sped across the threshold and brought light into the dark.

Following a period pregnant with dread and anticipation for the man, his patient became more stable. The loss of blood has ceased although consciousness was possibly days away- if she awoke at all. He cleaned and bandaged her wounds as well as he was able. When he was finished, the majority of her torso was wrapped mummy-like. He had taken great care to treat her catatonic body with utmost respect, priding himself on how gentlemanly he performed. He had not removed any article of clothing that was not directly in contact with a bullet's resting place. She was still dressed modestly although these cold, damp clothes would not do to aid in a speedy recovery. He gently removed her boots, socks, trousers, the remainder of her shirt, leaving her undergarments. In another situation he might find intrigue and pleasure in such a sight but for now lusty thoughts were shut out from his role of caretaker. Gathering her soggy clothes, he dashed away and, in a way she would have found humorous, returned with haste holding a pile of dry and insulating outerwear.

Once he had her fully clothed again he could sense her body starting to heal itself naturally as her temperature rose. He would administer painkillers and antibiotics once he had her settled where she could rest for as long as she needed. The tall, lithe man picked up the small woman gently off the cold surface, arms hooked around her back and legs. With meticulous care he made his way to his own bedroom, a place she had never dared to enter before, and even now was doing so not of her own will. The darkness would help her to sleep peacefully and recover.

He laid her easily atop the covers and went about wrapping her in a soft blanket that would keep her warm while not causing her to get too hot. Lying down opposite her on the large bed, he removed his glove and tenderly took her hand in his. What a contrast it showed in the dim light; her soft cream-colored hand wrapped in his large scarred one. A single tear made its way down his similarly scarred face beneath the mask.

"I _t was never meant to be like this…never like this"_

And finally, when exhaustion took him, there they lay slumbering together. This strange pair that, by no coincidence, fate had decided to bring together.


	2. Chapter 2

_Evey walks toward the sound of the music playing. Its melody is barely more than a whisper but it is unmistakable to her. Approaching slowly, she makes her way across a broad room toward the source of the music. Not the jukebox, as she suspected, but the sleek grand piano. Behind the raised lid sits a man dressed elegantly all in black from his hair to his boots. His face a white blur as he rose and crossed to her – the piano continuing its serenade as a player piano would. The man bowed to her and she nodded with a smirk in lieu of curtsey. Evey took his hand and they began to dance. They went up and down the floor never slowing until he released her to turn. She was spinning and spinning…and spinning…and…spinning…_

Evey Hammond awoke disoriented in a dark room. Her mind was still swimming and verged on making her sick. This was not a room she recognized. Briefly, an anxious fear took hold of her.

" _What if this is another cell? I can't go through that again. What if…"_

Her thoughts trail off as she starts to feel the soft bed beneath her. While still lying flat on her back she runs her hands timidly along her body on the sheet. _"Silk?"_

Her breathing steadies once more as she takes in her situation and a single syllable escapes her in a sigh: "V"

* * *

When V returns to his bed for the last time that day, nearly two days since he first placed her here, he notices that her body has been angled slightly from her original position. She appears to have been thrashing about in his absence.

He silently kneels beside the bed close to Evey, wanting her to remain peaceful for a second longer. She needs to be woken so that she can begin to consume enough to give her body the strength it needs to keep healing.

" _What am I bringing upon this woman?"_

V gently brushes aside the hair that has found its way to her face and though dim, revels in the sight of her. Keeping his body poised at the edge of the bed far enough away so as not to alarm her when she wakes; he whispered her name "Evey."

He was responded with silence.

A little louder but more drawn out, "Evey." This one sounded too much like a hiss to him and just as he had decided to abandon his effort, she stirred. A series of grunts followed until she brought herself fully awake.

"V!" she tried to exclaim though her throat was much too dry for sound. Beneath his mask, V smiled. She started to rise to throw her arms around his neck but her forgotten abdomen restricted this movement so she stopped short, placing her hands on the sides of his face. He stiffened slightly at this contact, afraid she would try to remove the grinning mask but her hands only rested there.

"How long have I been asleep?"

He knows exactly how long it's been since he's heard her voice. "Forty-six hours and thirty-eight minutes to be precise. That's from when I got you on this bed to now."

"Got me on this bed, huh?" Evey asked from her pain and pharmaceutical-induced haze.

V decides to play along for the sake of distracting her from her injuries and their causes. "Well, my dear, I must admit it was quite a chore to get you in this position." This elicited a short giggle Evey that was quickly stifled as pain shot through her ribs. V saw the unhidden feeling on her face and admitted to himself, not for the first time, that perhaps he was not fit to care for another human.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews! I'm sorry these first few chapters are so short, they'll get longer, I promise. Still trying to figure out where we're going.**

* * *

Sitting mostly upright and once again medicated, Evey's verbal bravery takes control, breaking the silence that had settled upon them.

"So… how did I come to be in this position, exactly? And I don't mean that you rolled me in here. Why are there extra holes here?" she gestures toward her bandaged torso.

"What is the last thing that you remember from before you were in this bed?"

Evey wrinkles her face before replying, "I remember wishing I had stayed in and took a bubble bath."

"And when was that?"

"Right after I realized that the fingermen we were following had two tails on them."

"Yes, that was rather unfortunate." V tilts his face away from her. This motion leaves him looking humiliated to Evey. "I should have picked up on them from the start…I am ashamed that I was unable to keep you from harm." V then moved to stand, slowly, taking care not to jostle Evey on the bed.

"Wait" Evey reached for his hand and was relieved when he took it. "Will you tell me the rest?"

"There's not much more to tell, my dear. We were ambushed and our pursuit was forgotten. Your injuries were more extensive than my own." At that, she ran her eyes up and down his frame looking for signs of injury but could find none. "I took care of our attackers and managed to get you back here in one piece. And here you lay."

Evey sighs. _"He's purposefully leaving information out…who knows if I'll ever get it out of him..."_

"Yes…here I am." She looks at him quizzically. She knows how uncomfortable her prying makes him but she knew that medicated Evey could get away with more questions than sober Evey could. She wonders if there will ever come a time when he talks candidly to her about matters of a personal variety.

She pauses in her ongoing mental dialogue as she realizes he never countered her statement. He is still perching motionless, peering down at her, still holding her hand. She glances at their hands in the dim light and smiles at them and then at his face, hoping he took notice. _"I would love for this to be regular thing."_ He still has not moved.

"V?" She waves her other hand, wondering if his mind is somewhere other than with her. She pulls their hands toward her face, an act that did not require any movement from him. Without care as to whether he is aware or not, she gently brings his hand to her face and kisses the palm of his glove. She felt him tense as he realized what she had done and she moved his sizable hand so that it cradled her face. "Thank you."

Silence followed. Just as she turns her head away, he finally speaks.

"Evey I…" She turns back to look at him although he has not moved. He moves his head so his mask is looking toward the ground. He tries to pull his hand away but she holds it to her so that he looks her in the eye. His gaze drops and he speaks at little more than a whisper, "I am so utterly sorry for bringing hurt onto you. I am ashamed for my lack of better judgment in regards to having you accompany me." He brings his face back up to look at her. "Your safety and comfort are most important to me. Seeing you like this…because of something I did, or rather did not do…"

With that, his face dropped and Evey could tell he would say no more.

How long he leaned there silently avoiding her gaze, she could not tell. She felt too exhausted to try to argue to him that it was her decision to accompany him and that she was just as blind to their situation as he had been-though the thought was terrifying. They looked at each other, neither one completely sure they were being seen.

Eventually Evey's head dropped as she succumbed to the sleep her body still needed. V took this as a signal to get her situated and vacate the room. He needed to get out of that room; all of a sudden, it had been filled with a stifling atmosphere. He felt as though he might scream at his sorrow and frustration if he stayed a moment longer.


End file.
